Defending
IT Talent
How Everywhere Work impacts IT— and what you can do about it.

Part of Ivanti’s Everywhere Work series

Few are paying attention
to the pressures
Everywhere Work placeson IT, though the signs
are all around us.
More than half of IT professionals say the shift to hybrid andremote working has caused significant negative impacts on
their work lives: lost workplace connections, mental health$1 billion
Organizations will spend nearly $1 billion on “Future of Work” activities in 2023 —a nearly 20% increase over 2022, according to IDC.

Ivanti surveyed 1,800 IT professionals and C-level executives acrossthe globe to understand the phenomenon:

challenges and higher workloads. Despite this, few (16%)
want to work in the office full time again.
The problem is not remote work per se, but the lack ofresources, tools and support for employees, especially theWhat do IT professionals say about the quality of their work lives?

tech talent that makes remote work possible.

What impacts do flexible and hybrid work arrangements have on workload?

How can organizations support and retain high-value IT talent?

Defending IT Talent2Inside:Methodology
Ivanti surveyed 8,400 executive leaders, IT professionals and office workers in Q1-2023
to understand the attitudes, expectations and challenges facing organizations and theiremployees in an Everywhere Work environment. Insights collected here are based on
responses from a subset of that study: IT professionals and executive leaders. Our goal: tomap out the steps organizations must take to activate the “future of work” vision.

01

Battling burnout

02

Keeping workload under control

03

Attracting and retaining IT talent

04

Take action

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time, without notice. Ivanti makes no warranty for the use of this document and assumes no responsibility for any
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Defending IT Talent3

01Battling burnout

Problem Today

Share of IT professionals who “quiet quit” in the last year

Tech talent is on the front lines of strategic
reinvention — from empowering new modes ofUK

working to fighting fast-evolving cybersecurity

35%

threats. Yet burnout and disaffection run rampant.

Germany

60%

France

US

24%

33%

Japan

10%

Australia

21%

Did you know?
For Millennials and Gen Z talent, the31%of IT professionals
say a colleague quit
due to burnout

rate is 10 points higher than for theirolder counterparts.

Defending IT Talent

Battling burnout

Keeping workload under control

Attracting and retaining IT talent

Take action

5What drives IT talent
to "quiet quit"?
Top 5 reasons for quiet quitting
this year

IT professionals are more likely to cite…
Tools/systems I use at work1

I didn’t feel motivated at work.

2

I was frustrated by the silos andpolitics in my workplace.

3

I was burnt out because of anincreasing workload.

4

My mental health was suffering.

5

I didn’t feel engaged by myemployer.

10%

are too complex

23%

And less likely to complain about…
Don’t feel motivated at work

Feel taken advantage of

Office Workers

46%
28%

38%
22%

IT Workers

Defending IT Talent

Battling burnout

Keeping workload under control

Attracting and retaining IT talent

Take action

6

Why It Matters

Tech professionals remainamong the toughest to recruit,
hire and retain.

“Despite the widespread layoffs, hiring freezes, andcost-cutting taking place in tech, many tech workers
are finding reemployment remarkably quickly. They’re
still the most sought-after workers with the mostin-demand skills.”
Julia Pollak
Chief Economist at ZipRecruiter

Well-known tech companies including Meta, Twitter, Amazon, DoorDash
and Stripe (among many others) have undertaken well-publicized layoffs
in 2023, yet employment in tech jobs is still growing — even in the face of
Big Tech’s retrenchment. Companies in financial services and healthcare,among many other sectors, are taking advantage of the reshuffling andhiring aggressively for tech roles.
Given that tech talent is in such demand, it’s startling to see the high levelsof burnout and disengagement. (Doesn't it stand to reason that if IT talent
is so hard to recruit and retain, employers would take steps to keep themengaged at work?)

Organizations can’t drive forward thenext wave of workplace disruption andinnovation if their tech talent isn’t fully
engaged — whether due to burnout, or
because they have one foot out the door.

Defending IT Talent

Battling burnout

Keeping workload under control

Attracting and retaining IT talent

Take action

7

Ivanti’s research shows that among thoseconsidering quitting their jobs, 31% reporttheir mental health is suffering, 27% don’t
feel valued and 25% say they're burned out

What drives turnover for IT?
Compensation is the top driver for quitting a job, but workload and social/emotional concerns
are close behind.

by higher workloads.

Q:

Why did you switch jobs in the last year? (Select all that apply.)

I was able to get better pay/
benefits at another company

34%

My mental healthis suffering

31%

I don’t feel valued as abusiness partner

27%

I was burnt out becauseof an increased workload

25%

I was burnt out becauseof longer work hours

22%

My employer placed
unreasonable demands on me

22%

I didn’t feel connected
to my team22%

I didn’t feel engaged with thecompany values and culture22%

I am not satisfied with the techand tools my employer provides

22%

I was passed over for a
promotion

17%

Defending IT Talent

Battling burnout

Keeping workload under control

Attracting and retaining IT talent

Take action8

02

Keeping workload
under control

Problem Todayof IT and security professionals report increased workloads due

As hybrid and remote
working grows,
so too does IT’s
workload…yet mostorganizations aren’t
prioritizing solutions
that can help.

to hybrid/virtual work adoption — extra burdens like handling73%

more helpdesk requests from home-based employees andmanaging shadow IT.
But just 8% of organizations are prioritizing automation for
repetitive tasks in 2023.

IT professionals report upticks in these areas due toremote working
36%

32%
26%

Employees
accessing work
data/network w/
personal device

Number of
helpdesk tickets

Shadow IT

22%

Onboarding/deprovisioning
employees

20%

Missing/lost assets

Defending IT Talent

Battling burnout

Keeping workload under control

Attracting and retaining IT talent

Take action

10

"Most companies have shifted to some versionof hybrid or remote working over the last few
years. What we’re seeing now is a knock-on
effect on IT departments: additional security
risks from a proliferation of devices and remote
working, significantly higher workloads, and —not surprisingly, given all this — higher stress
for IT talent. It is vital for IT teams to have thetools and solutions they need for the business tobe able to allow safe and productive hybrid orremote working. Business leaders are then able
to realize the benefit of increasing workloads andimproving productivity without experiencing theside effect of burnout and disengagement.”
Bob Grazioli,
Chief Information Officer at Ivanti

IT priorities for 2023
Investments in automation and AI – solutions that could reduce theworkload for IT – rank last on the priority list.

47%

Cybersecurity

42%

IT infrastructure

30% Cloud27%

Simplification of the IT landscape25%

IT cost optimization

23%

Digital customer experience

22%

Remote work/collaboration

21%

Digital employee experience

14%

Recruiting / retaining IT talent

11%

AI/ML tools

8%

Automating repetitive tasks

Defending IT Talent

Battling burnout

Keeping workload under control

Attracting and retaining IT talent

Take action

11

There are countless applications for automation in an IT environment

Why It Matters– and these can significantly reduce workloads for IT teams:

Jobs in IT havebecome more complex,
overwhelming andstressful; automation andAI can ease the burden.

Get a 360-degree, real-time view of devices, users,
applications and services.

Access up-to-the-minute security configurations using
sensor-based architecture.

Unleash an army of automation bots to proactively
detect, diagnose and auto-remediate configuration drift,
performance and security issues.

Control your patch management program in one centralized location.

Get instant insights into your software landscape and application
spend for on-premises, cloud and edge environments.

Defending IT Talent

Battling burnout

Keeping workload under control

Attracting and retaining IT talent

Take action

12

The end result?
Shift repetitive tasks to machines, shorten IT response
times, uncover inefficiencies and give IT professionals

Types of workflow automation for IT

more time to focus on meaningful work that requires
critical thinking.

Backoffice IT workflow automation
Automate dozens of IT workflows that take place behind the scenes – from updating a

By deploying automation,organizations can reduce IT
workloads — one of the biggest
drivers of turnover among
IT professionals.

patch status to classifying support tickets and taking a real-time inventory of IT assets.

User-facing IT workflow automation
Empower employees to use self-service apps (including chatbots) to do things like open
support tickets, or locate a knowledge base article to diagnose/fix their own tech problem.

Proactive detection and remediation
Deploy automated bots that can sense, predict and remediate issues. For example, use a
bot to pinpoint a machine running abnormally slowly, diagnose the root cause and fix theissue — all without any human intervention from either IT or the end user.

Defending IT Talent

Battling burnout

Keeping workload under control

Attracting and retaining IT talent

Take action

13

03

Attracting and retaining
IT talentProblem Today

Across industries,
organizations arestill struggling toretain IT talent.

IT professionals are 1.4x more likely to “quiet quit”
than other knowledge workers…

Q:

Have you participated in “quiet quitting” in the last year?

22%

30%

All office workers

IT professionals…and a significant number are preparing to all-out quit.

1 in 4
IT professionals are considering quitting
their current job in the next 6 months

Defending IT Talent

Battling burnout

Keeping workload under control

Attracting and retaining IT talent

Take action15

IT experiences more negative effects from hybrid/
remote working compared to other office workers.

Q:

What negative effects of remote or hybrid working
have you experienced? (Select all that apply.)

17%

Lost personal connection
to co-workers

23%
12%

More tech challenges
working remotely

23%
7%Longer hours than when
I was in the office17%8%Less time with senior leaders

16%
8%

Negatively affected mental healthPassed over for a promotion

11%
2%
9%
Office Workers

IT Workers

Despite this, few (16%) want to work in the office
full time again.

Defending IT Talent

Battling burnout

Keeping workload under control

Attracting and retaining IT talent

Take action

16

Why It Matters
IT professionals
are 1.5x more likely
to experience negative
effects of hybrid/remote
work compared to otherknowledge workers.

IT talent is the engine thatpowers Everywhere Work.
Our research shows 1 in 3 office workers are experiencing negative effects
from hybrid and remote work, but among IT workers, the rate is 50%
higher — a remarkable difference. Few IT professionals want a strict, 100%
in-office work format, but clearly the accumulation of new challenges andcomplexities in their day-to-day jobs weighs on them.

How can organizations uplift and empower
the people who make remote working…

productive?
efficient?
secure?

Defending IT Talent

Battling burnout

Keeping workload under control

Attracting and retaining IT talent

Take action

17

Unintended IT consequences of hybrid/remote work

Lost connections
Especially for younger IT workers, the loss of in-person working often means fewer

Given the tech talent
shortage, isn’t it time to
pay attention to what IT
professionals are telling us
about their work lives?

opportunities to connect with managers, network with coworkers and receive criticalmentoring.

More tech “friction”
When employees work off-site, they add more digital interactions to their daily work
lives — from remote collaboration technologies to added security interfaces. Office
workers use 2.6 devices on average, a massive number of assets for IT to manage,
particularly when some of these are off-site.

Longer hours
With so many devices coming online across multiple locations and time zones, IT
teams face tremendous pressure — in terms of workload, work complexity and evenlength of the workday. High workloads and an “always on call” environment drive
down engagement and drive up turnover.

“Even on days that I’m in theoffice, all my work meetings are on
Zoom because some people areat home. Many of us will be sitting
at our desks, within a few feet of
one another, but we only speak
through screens. I feel completely
disconnected from my co-workers.”
24 year-old programmer
Seattle, USA
Defending IT Talent

Battling burnout

Keeping workload under control

Attracting and retaining IT talent

Take action

18

04

Take action

How will your organization attract andretain smart, future-minded tech talent?
1

IT talent is 2.5x more
likely to put in longer
hours when working
remotely compared
to in the office.

Diagnose IT work-life pressure points

Use internal surveys and one-on-ones to take stock of IT professionals' mindsets at work. Take
note of the specific pressure points brought about by hybrid and remote work options. Our researchshows IT talent is 2.5x more likely to work longer hours when working remotely compared to in
the office, and 1 in 4 report burnout from an increased workload. These hidden stressors drive
disengagement, quiet quitting and turnover. With employee experience research, you can define
your organization’s baseline so subsequent change efforts can be measured effectively.

Workload-related burnout is a big driver of IT turnover
I was burnt out because of an increased workload

25%

I was burnt out because of longer work hours

22%

My employer placed unreasonable demands on me

22%

Defending IT Talent

Battling burnout

Keeping workload under control

Attracting and retaining IT talent

Take action20

2Inventory tech-specific experiences

IT talent report higher levels of dissatisfaction with the tools they use when working
offsite (nearly 1 in 4 say this). It’s time to change this. Begin by tracking digital
employee experience (DEX) for tech talent. For example, how many tools do IT
professionals use per day, including the number of unique sign-ons? Which tools andprocesses improve efficiency and satisfaction; which ones hinder efficiency and leadto frustration? The insights can help pinpoint areas that need attention/investment.

22%

IT workers are dissatisfied
with tech and tools theiremployer provides.

Defending IT Talent

Battling burnout

Keeping workload under control

Attracting and retaining IT talent

Take action

21

3

4

Prioritize automation for IT workflows

Adopt proactive solutions

Invest in technology that handles repetitive tasks automatically. Apply

Deploy so-called “self-healing” systems that use a combination of AI,

workflow automation to both employee-facing activities (e.g., helpdesk

machine learning and remote monitoring to resolve workplace technology

automations) as well as back-office workflows (e.g., CMDB updates).

slowdowns before an employee is even aware of the problem. The end

Free up IT talent to work on projects that are more meaningful, rewarding

result: fewer helpdesk tickets.

and valuable to the organization.

Defending IT Talent

Battling burnout

Keeping workload under control

Attracting and retaining IT talent

Take action

22

5

Give employees choices
about how they work

Employee policies that rigidly define the howwhen-where of work miss an important truth: youremployees have a diverse range of work styles, life
commitments and even work-from-home setups.
Some work best fully remote, while others feel more
effective fully in the office (and many situations in
between). Offer IT talent the chance to define thework style that suits their individual circumstances,and in doing so, boost IT recruitment and retention.

“Combatting quiet quitting is a multi-faceted challenge. A solid
first step – offer your IT talent choices about the how, when andwhere of work. You’ll likely find you have unique cohorts on theteam — everyone from digital nomads, who want to work fully
remotely from far-flung locations, to folks who want to be in theoffice full time, and those who want a balance or hybrid work
arrangement. At the end of the day, your flexibility should allow forthe best possible productivity and mental well-being of the team.
That is – where does each employee do their best work?”
Jeff Abbott,
Chief Executive Officer at IvantiConnect & build
camaraderie
No matter how each individual works, bringeveryone to a physical place (the officeor otherwise) regularly to collaborate,connect and build camaraderie.

Defending IT Talent

Battling burnout

Keeping workload under control

Attracting and retaining IT talent

Take action

23

Design work for IT employees with different
needs and life stages
Entry-level employees
may want theconnections of
in-office work…

…while mid-career talent
may value working fromhome for more time withfamily.

“I want to be in theoffice most days; I wantto learn from others
while working shoulderto-shoulder. I’m also
living in an apartment
with two other women
and we can't all workin the living room…andbelieve me, we’ve tried.”“I have three primaryschool kids and a
40-minute commute.
I will not work for acompany that requires
me to be in the officemore than once a week.
Plus I’m much moreproductive in my homeoffice — a win-win.”

24-year old software developer
in New York, USA

38-year old machine-learning engineer
in London, UK

Defending IT Talent

Battling burnout

Keeping workload under control

Attracting and retaining IT talent

Take action24

6

Foster in-person connection for IT teams

Even though the large majority of IT professionals (84%) want to work remotely
at least some of the time, there are aspects of hybrid and remote work they’dlike to change. Almost 1 in 4 say they’re missing out on workplace connections— things like in-person mentoring and development, opportunities to provetheir skills to managers, and chances to network with co-workers. Face-toface meetings, even infrequently, present an opportunity to build trust andcamaraderie. It’s easier to have a connection with someone on the other side of
the screen if the team just spent the day having lunch and hanging out together.

84%of IT workers want
to work remotely
at least some of
the time.

Defending IT Talent

Battling burnout

Keeping workload under control

Attracting and retaining IT talent

Take action25Defending IT Talent
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Explore more trends of Everywhere Work in
the 2023 research report.

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